When it rains (or leaks), it pours.....

Howdy everyone, some of you noticed right away that I didn't send my Wednesday night update this week.

Well, there's a pretty good reason for that.

Lets just pick up from last update.  The weekend was the normal routine, not much exciting, though Bob and I did try a German restaurant in town, and had their "giant pig knuckle" which was great.  They also had a nice coffee machine inside, so we ordered a cup of joe.  It was the nicest cup of coffee I've had in a long time.  Afterwards I did my usual shopping. Check out the picture of this HUGE durian.  You could smell it from a mile away!

This week has been very busy workwise, deadlines and big management meetings coming up have stretched me pretty thin.  Between work, home, and Kody, there wasnt much time to punch out an update.  I also finally did join the Gym by the house and went to my first spin class there.  I dont know if it was me being out of shape,  no fans in the classroom, or the lack of AC, but I only lasted about 30 minutes.  The room is dark like US spin classes, but has LED strobes all over the place like a trance club.  That, combined with EuroTrash Techno exhausted me.  I decided to leave before I had seizures from the lights.

This Wednesday evening, I went to bed, and for some reason forgot to power off my Houston cell phone.  I always power it off. About 12:30 midnight, phone rang, it was my neighbor.  I answered, completely incoherent, and he was paitent enough to let me get my bearings, and to tell me I had a major water leak in the house.  Nick has been checking on the house regularly, along with my Mom and stepdad, and Dayna, so the house usually doesn't go for extended amounts of time without people looking in.  Well, the water leak started at the water heater (defective rubber hose), and leaked all over, caving the ceiling in at the guest room, and leaking down the hall, to the office, dining room, living room, and kitchen.  I'm so fortunate that my Mom and Step Dad , and Nick and my contractor friend Mark, all stepped up to the plate.  I called my insurance agent, and the same day, Mom, Darrell, Nick and Mark, and the insurance company had come out, done estimates, brought in fans and dehumidifiers and were starting the cleanup process.  Felt really nice to know I'm in good hands. The damage is pretty extensive, floors, sheetrock and plumbing repair. Still waiting for the final estimate.  Thank goodness for insurance.

To top that off, Friday morning, Kody and I went for our usual 5AM walk.  Except this guy, walked out the door without his house keys.  So here I am, sitting outside the door of the apartment,  flip flops, shorts and a Tshirt with Kody. I had my wallet but no cell phone.  And knew nobodys phone number here.   I hadnt shaved, showered or even brushed my teeth.  I was going to walk down the street to the Holiday inn and wake up bob, and have him call my admin who has a key, but it would take two hours to get her to the office, get the key and then come unlock the door.  On top of that, they probably dont allow dogs into holiday inn.  So option 2 was to take Kody in a Cab and head to work, and twiddle my thumbs still 8am when people came to work to get a key, but most cabs dont allow dogs.   So the last and final option, was to bother a neighbor.  I had met two neighbors, the one on the first floor, who is VERY nice,but not sure how nice anyones going to be at 5:30 in the morning.  The second neighbor lives above me, we met once, but the important part is, since he lives above me, I know what time he gets moving.  Which was about 5:30.  I knocked on his door, and asked him to lock kody up while I went for keys, and he said that he and his wife go to work at 7.  So that wasnt an option. Then he remembered that there was a flyer for a locksmith at our West entrance to the compound.  He ran down with me, we got the number, and 15 minutes later, the locksmith arrived, wearing cutoffs, no shirt and carrying with him a hammer and a metal rod.  Using  the hammer and his scooter key, he punched out the peep hole, and the metal rod was shaped exactly like the door handle.  It took him less than 5 minutes to get in.  Total cost? 100 RMB= 16 dollars.   I was back inside by 6:15 AM.

So, here I sit writing this email on Saturday at 2pm from work (deadlines due!) and looking back, thinking about how very fortunate I am to have so many great people around me.  People that I can not express how grateful I am, people that have stepped up, offered help, and responded when called on.  So for those of you that have offered help on the house, thanks so much, but its under control so far.

This weekends plans are to look for a microwave, and go to the used furniture market (the renter grade furniture just isnt cutting it), I'm deal hunting!

In other news, SiriusXM.com works in China, so I can listen to Satellite Radio from my desk, and get a taste of US music.  I'm working out regularly and just finished the first season of Arrested Development.  Presently watching the current season of Hell's Kitchen too.  So I'm able to keep sane.  Kody is doing good, he's enjoying sharing my after dinner popsicle (Chinese sweet green bean).

Weather here is nice, mid to upper 80s but its stays very humid!

I miss everyone, and I hope this note finds you very well.

peace and love,
W

New Years resolutions

Okay so its been a while since I updated my blog and I have been meaning to but really have had nothing to blog about.

Well, for those of you who keep up with me, many know that I had a buddy move in earlier this year, he rented a room in the house and kept his dog in the back yard. Well, I got along with "Tom" just fine, but his dog, who is a 1 year old 100 lb bloodhound, was a different story. Totally unsocialized and crazy. I didn't want that dog coming inside, so a pen was built in the back yard, which the dog promptly dug up and destroyed the grass. I turned the other cheek, since Tom was indeed paying rent. I told Tom that the dog could come in during inclement weather (really cold, rainstorm etc) as long as he was given a bath first. Tom has quite a social schedule and was never really home in the evenings. So the dog stayed in his pen for probably 23 hours a day. On the nights Tom came home late, he would toss dog food out the back door and go to bed.

Now, where am I going with this? Well, last weekend, Tom moved out on Sunday, mysteriously. No Goodbye, no GFY, no see you later. Just gone. I got home and went and looked out the back porch, and the 'dog pen'/mud hole was missing all the cattle panel fencing. The T-Posts were still there (thanks Jackass), and the wood was still there. Missing was the dog house, and rubber mat and his BBQ Pit. This is strange, I went to his bedroom. Everything that was his was missing. Then into the bathroom. Totally cleaned out. I called three times, no answer from him.

Immediately, I started thinking "What did I do?" but I caught myself. I made phone calls to friends from church, and in my support network. They all had the same answer. "Its not you. Its about Tom. You did nothing, This is all about him." So after calming down about the situation, I went to bed, and the next day, arrived at the office to find a "Dear John" letter in my email. Basically stating that he wanted to move out because It wasnt fair to me because I didnt want the dog inside, and wasnt fair to the dog because he was in the mud. Well, Good luck with that buddy. So I know, this was Toms way of avoiding any kind of confrontation or situation that would have arisen. Personally I couldn't see the situation getting out of control, but who knows.

So, I talked to a good friend that night, who usually calls me out on my thinking patterns/errors. I was really upset and agitated at him because I told him that I planned on "letting go" of the situation. He pointed out to me (much to my chagrin), that I way too often let people take advantage of me. And I was thinking to myself, "What the hell is this guy talking about? I dont let people take advantage of me!" Well, less than 24 hours later, this statement would fufill itself.

To be continued.....

Garage Door Opener Issues

Well, as most things go with time, they tend to fail. One case is my Craftsman garage door opener.

Its been getting noisy over time but I didn't realize how much until it completely failed Monday morning. If I didn't look in the rearview mirror and saw darkness. Got out and I hear the motor running, but the door had only moved about 3".

Well, looks like I have problems, but I'm on the way to work, so lets open and close manually and have a look later.

Well, this is what I found when I got home.



The gear that is driven by the worm gear has eaten itself alive. Upon further research, this gear needs to be lubricated regularly, which it obviously has not been. I've lived here almost 4 years and I've only greased the rollers and lubed the chain.

So off to Sears service center I go. Well, guess what, Sears cannot help unless you have the model and serial number. This happened to me about 12 years ago at this same place. Why should it be different now? I get online on ebay, theres a seller there that has the gears. I call his #. He asks "Do you have the optical eye at the bottom of the door?" yes, I do. Then tells me "its the same gear from 1984 to today". Why can't sears figure that out?


I ordered the kit, it arrived in 3 days. My next post will illustrate replacement and chain adjustment.

Hurricane Ike Fence Repair...Continued

So after Ike, the fence behind and to one side of my back yard was knocked down.

The guys on the side of me said "Don't worry, we're gonna let insurance handle it." As did the people behind.

No problem. Now its the middle of March, six months later. Still not a peep. The guy next door finally fixed the fence that faces the street, before that, you could drive by and look straight into my back yard. Several times, I have approached him and offered to split the cost and help him repair the fence between us. He gets all gung ho about it, and we set a time and date, and when the times up to do it, he's nowhere in sight.

The folks behind me have propped the fence up pretty well, but it still is an eyesore. I'll have to work on them next.

So a few weeks ago, I set out and picked up some 4x4 posts and 2x4 posts, to lay the framework out. I thought about being a jerk and fixing the damage only to where the 'pretty side' was facing me, but I'm not repairing the entire fence, just the fallen part. I went ahead and flip flopped each section.

With my Craftsman circular saw, level, sharpie, demo bars, shovels and Quikrete, I was able to start the project in a timely manner. This is really the first time I've done any kind of construction project of any significance, and it sure is satisfying. Still not done yet, but its better every day. Don't have to look at their neighbors trashed out back yard.

I've been cutting the old fence/debris into smaller pieces for the garbage men to take away, hopefully the back yard will start looking decent soon enough.

Heres the frame work, new 4x4 and 2x4 rails. I was hoping the builder didn't use concrete for the posts but they did


First section up and running, second section started.


Second section completed. Third starting (gotta go buy more pickets)



I'd like to end this entry with a Robert Frost Poem....

Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun,
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
'Stay where you are until our backs are turned!'
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of out-door game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors'.
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
'Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it
Where there are cows?
But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.' I could say 'Elves' to him,
But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather
He said it for himself. I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me~
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father's saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, "Good fences make good neighbors."